Buy French or California Wines?Part II

Is California Gaining?

France has been the leading winemaker of the second
millennium. But their rigid wine laws severely
restrict experimentation. Conversely, California
vintners are free to experiment, and have the
great USA economy to finance it. Our impression
has been that California has been gaining. So,
we paired a dozen French against a dozen California
counterparts, each pair at the same price, and
reported the results in this Annex, two months ago. California won the blind tasting, eight matches to four.

If it is true that California is catching France,
the implications for the wine world are huge.
So, we thought we better pair some more, and
here's how it came out. Wines that won their
matches by the most votes are listed last.

Winner

Local

Winning Margin
(Votes)

Price

Year

Wine

9th (tie)

Cal.

2

$10

'98

Chardonnay by
Farallon, California North Coast

9th (tie)

Cal

2

$8

'97

Cabernet Sauvignon
by R. Mondavi, Woodbridge California

8th

Cal

3

$15

'96

Claret Red Blend
by Coulson El Dorado, California

7th

Cal.

6

$10

'97

Cabernet
Sauvignon by Chateau Julien, Monterey County (pictured)

6th

France

6.5

$33

'97

Chablis
(Chardonnay) Montmains Burgundy, Albert Pic

5th

France

8

$8

'98

Tradition
Chardonnay by B&G Saint-Louis, Macon-Village

4th

France

11

$45

'97

Chablis
(Chardonnay) Grenouilles Burgundy, by Albert Pic

2nd(tie)

France

13

$6

'97

Merlot by Rivefort
de France, Pays d'Oc

2nd(tie)

Cal.

13

$30

'97

Chardonnay by
Signorello, Napa Valley

1st

Cal.

22

$15

'96

Cabernet Sauvignon
by Fetzer Barrel Select, North Coast

Comments

1. California won 6 matches while France won 4.
That is, California won 60% of the matches;
last time California won 67%.

2. However, last time France won two of the three
matches between the six most expensive wines.
The same thing happened this time.